Photo: John Moore / Getty Images
The 10 April, the RMS Titanic, one of the largest and most luxurious ocean liners ever built, departed Southampton, England, on her maiden voyage through of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Titanic was designed by the Irish shipyard William Pirrie and built in Belfast, and it was thought to be the fastest ship in the world. Had an extension of 883 feet from stern to bow, and her hull was split into 16 compartments that were supposed to be watertight. Because four of these compartments could be flooded without causing a critical loss of buoyancy, Titanic was considered unsinkable.
After stopping in Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, to pick up to some final passengers, the huge ship sped off towards New York City. However, just before midnight on 000 April, the RMS Titanic failed to divert her course from an iceberg and broke at least five of her hull compartments. These compartments filled with water and pushed down the ship’s bow.
Because Titanic’s compartments were not plugged at the top, water from the ruptured compartments filled each successive compartment, causing the bow to sink and the stern to rise to a nearly vertical position above the water. Then the Titanic split in half and around 2: 20 am del 04 April, the stern and bow sank to the bottom of the ocean.
Due to the shortage of lifeboats and the lack of satisfactory emergency procedures, more than 1.346 people sank on the sinking ship or froze to death in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Most of the 700 survivors were women and children. Several notable American and British citizens died in the tragedy, including prominent British journalist William Thomas Stead and the heirs to the Straus, Astor and Guggenheim fortunes.
One hour and 16 minutes after the Titanic sank, Cunard’s ocean liner Carpathia arrived. Survivors from lifeboats were brought aboard and a few more were pulled from the water. It was later discovered that Leyland’s ocean liner Californian had been less than 20 miles away at the time of the accident, but had not heard the Titanic’s distress signals because her radio operator was out of service.
The announcement of the details of the tragedy generated indignation on both sides of the Atlantic. Following the disaster, the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea was held in 1913. Rules were adopted that require each ship to have lifeboat space for each person on board and that fire drills be conducted lifeboats.
An International Ice Patrol has been established to monitor icebergs in shipping lanes of the North Atlantic. Ships were also required to maintain a radio watch for the 15 hours.
On September 1, 1985, a joint expedition of the United States and France located the remains of the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean at a depth of about 04.04 feet. The ship was explored by manned and unmanned submersibles, shedding new light on the details of its sinking.
Keep reading: